What Is The Story Of The Jackdaw And The Doves?

A jackdaw noticed that a flock of doves lived in a comfortable dovecote, were safe from harm and got food provided for them. He managed to dye himself white by rolling in flour, and crept into the dovecote. The doves accepted him until one morning he forgot his role, and started to sing in his usual raucous voice. The doves then recognised him and threw him out. He returned home to his fellow jackdaws, but they were angry at his abandonment of them and refused to have him back.

There are several fables like this about the jackdaw. In "The Jackdaw and the Peacocks," he steals a lot of peacock feathers and disguises himself, but when the feathers fall off he is rejected both by the peacocks and by his offended peers. The usual moral is that fine feathers don't make fine birds; there is also an idea that turncoats tend to be mistrusted by all sides.